Fall colors have been exceptional this year. The weather conditions have been ideal to produce strong leaf colors that have not been matched for many years. But now the wind and rain are combining to strip the trees of their autumn tints and leave us with the task of raking up the leaves.
This used to be a job that I found more physically taxing than any other gardening task, even digging. After I had finished I felt completely wacked. But over the last few years I have found that it has required less effort, perhaps because I take it more slowly.
Last year I was seduced by one of those glossy catalogs to buy a leaf vacuum and shredder. The catalog showed a picture of a lightweight machine with wheels that you could push like a mower to collect all the leaves. I placed my order just as the first leaves were falling, but unfortunately everyone else had the same idea and a week later I received a letter telling me that they had sold out and had to reorder new stock. By the time the machine arrived I had already completed the annual task with my trusty rake. But this year it will be a different story and I am looking forward to using my machine for the first time.
Once you have collected the leaves the question remains as to what to do with them. Leaves are a valuable source of humous which will improve your soil so putting them out for collection with the garbage is such a waste. Collect the leaves into plastic bin bags and store them over the winter and you will have fine leafmold in time to dig in to the soil in the spring. Add a spadeful of soil and some grass cuttings to each bag to encourage the process. That last tip came from Marianne Binetti and you can read her article here.
Another way that you can use some of your leaves is suggested by Ronique Gibson in “10 Ways to Organically Decorate your Thanksgiving Home”. I’m not sure quite how practical is her suggestion of using tougher leaves like Magnolia and Oak leaves for coasters for your drink, but there are nine other ideas and the pictures are stunning.
As all marketers know the word “secret” always attracts attention and so I could not escape the headline “Achieving Happiness In Your Garden: The Sixth Secret”. It turns out that the secret is really just good old-fashioned advice, but worth reading all the same.
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